Biography
Combative striker Oli McBurnie was Hull City’s primary target throughout the 2025 close season, the partial transfer ban imposed by the EFL proved a brief fly in the ointment and Oli eventually signed in early August, two days before the start of the season when McBurnie made a late cameo appearance, quickly burnishing his bad-boy reputation with a comical throat grab on ex-City goalie Carl Rushworth. Goals against Wrexham and Oxford during the following week quickly demonstrated the wisdom of City’s extended courtship of the player that once cost Sheffield United £17m.
Oliver Robert McBurnie was born and raised in the Garforth area of Leeds and was part of Leeds United’s academy system in his early teens, also having a trial with Manchester United’s youth team in 2009. At 14 he switched to Bradford City’s academy and progressed rapidly through the ranks, earning his first professional contract in August 2013. He made his first team debut for the Bantams in November 2013, playing the last few minutes of an FA Cup tie against Rotherham United, a month later he was handed his first League One start against the same opponent. He remained on the fringes of the first team squad at the start of the 2014/15 season, making occasional appearances off the bench, until January 2015 when he joined Conference Premier side FC Chester on a one month loan. After three appearances for Chester that yielded McBurnie’s first senior goal against Welling United, his loan was terminated early due to first team injuries at Valley Parade. When those injuries improved Oli returned to Chester in March 2015 and spent the rest of the season at the Deva Stadium, taking his tally to five goals in 14 appearances across the two loans. By the 2015 close season had also made 20 senior appearances for Bradford City.
In July 2015 McBurnie joined Premier League side Swansea City, the Welsh club’s scouting system having clearly seen something in Oli during his time at Chester. He found his feet in the Swans’ Under-21 side until November 2015 when he joined League Two Newport County on a month’s loan and made a remarkable debut splash, coming off the bench after an hour of his debut against Luton Town and netting a match-winning hattrick. Oli was recalled by Swansea days before Christmas after three goals in 3 appearances for Newport. In March 2016 McBurnie had another League Two loan, this time to Bristol Rovers where he made 5 goalless appearances.
The 2016/17 season saw McBurnie break into the first team picture at Swansea City. He scored twice in an August 2016 League Cup tie against Peterborough United and made his Premier League debut later that month against Leicester City. During the winter months scored in four consecutive EFL Trophy matches and remained a fringe first team player for the rest of the season as the Swans comfortably avoided relegation. This supporting role continued in the first half of the 2017/18 season as Swansea drifted towards the foot of the Premier League table. A proposed season-long loan to Championship side Barnsley collapsed in August 2017 due to faulty paperwork, this move was reinvigorated in January 2018 and he made his February 2018 debut for the Tykes against Queens Park Rangers, scoring his first goal for the club a week later against Sheffield Wednesday. He proved a massive hit at Oakwell, scoring nine goals in 17 appearances and winning a player of the year prize.
He signed a new contract with relegated Swansea City in July 2018 amid speculation of a transfer back to former club Leeds United. He scored his first goal for Swansea in nineteen months when he netted on the opening day of the 2018/19 season against Sheffield United and immediately became a first team fixture, netting 22 league goals in the season and adding two more in the FA Cup. By May 2019 his stop-start three years at Swansea City had yielded 31 goals in 66 appearances.
In August 2019 McBurnie joined newly promoted Premier League side Sheffield United for a whopping £17.5m fee, testament to the impression he made during his break-out season at Swansea. His August 2019 Blades debut against Bournemouth was followed a fortnight later by the first Premier League goal of his career against Leicester City. He remained part of the first team throughout the season as the Blades made an unexpected top half finish deploying a fluid attacking formation favoured by manager Chris Wilder. During the 2020/21 season Sheffield United tumbled to the foot of the Premier League and McBurnie managed only one goal all season before a broken foot ended his season early in April 2021. Relegated to the Championship, McBurnie’s barren spell continued into the 2021/22 season when he scored just once in the League Cup against Southampton and failed to notch in the league, missing the end of season play-offs with another foot injury.
McBurnie returned to form in the 2022/23 season, opening his account in August 2022 against Luton Town and ending the season with fifteen goals as the Blades won automatic promotion back to the Premier League. He netted six top flight goals during the 2023/24 season as Sheffield United made an immediate return back to the Championship. By the 2024 close season McBurnie had scored 29 goals for the Blades in 159 appearances.
In July 2024 Oli made the move to Spanish La Liga side Las Palmas signing a three year deal with the Canary Islands club that had a release clause in the event of relegation. He made his August 2024 debut against Sevilla but had to wait until December 2024 for his first goals in a Copa del Rey tie against CE Europa. Las Palmas struggled in the lower reaches of the table and when relegation was confirmed in May 2025, Oli triggered his release clause after five goals in 35 appearances. He joined Hull City two months later.
Although born in Leeds McBurnie qualified for Scotland through his parents’ heritage. In September 2013 he received his first call-up for the Scotland Under-19 squad but waited until November 2013 for his Under-19s debut against Netherlands. In the last of his four Under-19 appearances in March 2014 he scored his only goal against Croatia. In November 2015 he made his Scotland Under-21 debut against Ukraine and over the next two years he made 12 appearances, scoring two goals against Northern Ireland in March 2016 and Latvia in October 2017 – his final appearance came against Ukraine in November 2017. In March 2018 McBurnie won his first senior Scotland cap against Costa Rica and remained on the fringes of the Scotland squad for the next three seasons. He won the last of his 17 Scotland caps against Faroe Islands in March 2021.
In his younger playing days McBurnie had something of a bad-boy off-field image – he was convicted of drunk driving in October 2019 and in May 2021 he was briefly investigated for his involvement in a pub fight. In May 2022, after a penalty shoot out conclusion to an end of season play-off and a subsequent pitch invasion, it was alleged that McBurnie stamped on a Nottingham Forest supporter – though he was later cleared of any offence.
Details
Nationality: Scotland
Date/Place of Birth: 4 June 1996, Leeds
Hull City First Game: 9 August 2025, Coventry City A (Championship), 29 years, 66 days old
Hull City Final Game: [current player]
Clubs
Bradford City (2012-2015), Chester (2015, loan), Chester 2015, loan), Swansea City (2015-2019), Newport County (2015, loan), Bristol Rovers (2016, loan), Barnsley (2018, loan), Sheffield United (2019-2024), Las Palmas (2024-2025), Hull City (2025-current)
Hull City Record
Career: 7 apps, 4 goals
Oli McBurnie| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025/26 | 5 (1) | 3 | – | – | 1 (0) | 1 | – | – | – | – |